How do you choose your skincare products?

In the sea of choices on the shelves at Ulta or even Walgreens, where do you begin? How do you know what will work for you, what could irritate, what could trigger a breakout, what could be too drying, too oily, what could be the magic elixir? This is a challenging question even for those with perfect skin. And if you have skin problems like I did growing up, then you’ve also seen the sea of products at the aesthetician’s office AND the dermatologist’s office. Could these expensive potions be the answer to your troubles? What about all the choices at a natural store like Whole Foods? Their Whole Body section displays hundreds of products you won’t find at any beauty supply or pharmacy. The possibilities are endless — and overwhelming!

A New Challenge

As someone who’s struggled with my skin for the larger part of my life, I can safely say I’ve tried just about everything at all of those places I mentioned in hopes of curing my acne. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on products and treatments, and in the end my solution was to heal my skin from the inside out.

Once I cleared my acne, I had a whole new conundrum in the beauty aisle. What products should I choose to actually nourish my skin now that I can focus on something other than clearing the acne? Did I really have sensitive skin, or had it just been so inflamed for so long that I had to choose products to accommodate that? What will help with the scarring? With the sun spots? What will smooth out the few remaining rough patches and keep my skin supple and hydrated?

I was back to square one with way too many choices, but I knew one thing for sure. I wanted my next skincare products to be super clean and organic with simple, nourishing ingredients. Most natural foods advocates live by this advice: “Don’t eat anything with ingredients you can’t pronounce.” In living by that rule for food and skincare, I take it one step further.

Don’t put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t put in your mouth.

Our skin is our biggest organ. It protects us from the outside world, but it also absorbs what we slather onto it. When we expose our skin to lotions and potions, we’re inviting all of those ingredients to seep in. Doesn’t it make sense that we should want the best for our bodies and our skin?

Simplify by Going Natural

My first step was to pare down to the bare minimum. For about a year, I used a gentle vitamin C foaming cleanser, raw honey, witch hazel, and coconut oil. It was a fine regimen, but I found that the honey got messy and sticky when I didn’t use it in the shower, and sometimes the coconut oil got a bit greasy, which made me want to skip it in the mornings, leaving my skin a bit tight from the cleanser. For a while I tried oil cleansing with the coconut oil. It works great for removing eye makeup, but I found myself using twice as many face towels (and I already use a lot!), and I just got tired of doing it after a while. I wasn’t dissatisfied with my skincare regimen, but I wasn’t raving about it either. Now I’m ready to rave.

Botanic Organic: So Clean You Could Eat It

These seemingly simple products found me more than I found them, it seems. I was invited to a San Francisco women’s entrepreneur event in February, and Nancy Newsom had a table there where she was peddling her thoughtfully packaged skincare wares. We got to talking, and when I mentioned my blog, she offered me a few free samples to try. A week into using them, I knew I’d found my new favorite skincare line and purchased full-sized products so I wouldn’t miss a day.

Nancy has created products that fit my needs perfectly, but it turns out, that’s by design. Here’s a quote from Nancy:

Based on the theory that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the organic compounds found in raw, plant-based ingredients create amazingly complex whole foods for skin. They are as beneficial in helping balance young, blemish prone skin as they are in nourishing and repairing mature, environmentally damaged skin.

Botanic Organic’s skin care philosophy is to calm the skin using anti-inflammatory, nutrient rich, plant-based ingredients that will gently coax your skin back into balance. With your skin back in balance, it can continue its natural process of self-healing. It’s pretty incredible to witness how the same ingredients can help seemingly very different skin conditions.

The cleansing grains double as an exfoliator/cleanser but are gentle enough to use every day — and they include the benefits of honey without the mess. Licorice is great for calming inflammation and evening out skin tone — something my skin surely needs after years of abuse and sun damage. You can also use the grains as a mask, which I do in my morning shower. I pour a little pile of grains into the palm of my hand, add a few drops of water, mix into a paste, and massage into my face. Instead of rinsing right away, I do my whole shower routine with the grains on my face, and then rinse them off before I get out. It’s a perfect system!

The one thing I’d change about the packaging would be to add some sort of plastic barrier to slow the grains down when you pour them into your hand. With the big opening, you run the risk of dumping out too much, and once it’s wet, you really should use it right away.

The cleansing oil has really been a game changer for me though. It’s a fantastic makeup remover, but it also feels deeply nourishing when I massage it into my skin. When I’ve oil cleansed in the past with coconut oil or even olive oil, I’ve always felt a little grimy afterwards, but this rinses off cleanly while leaving enough moisture behind to still feel soft and hydrated. I love it.

Botanic Organic Discount AND Giveaway!

In fact, I love these products so much I want to share the wealth! To receive a 20% discount on all your purchases through the end of April, sign up for my newsletter and get a coupon right in your inbox once you confirm your email! Everyone who’s already subscribed will receive an email with the coupon code TODAY, so be on the lookout!

Nancy at Botanic Organic has also agreed to raffle off 2 sets of these glorious products in their largest sizes (a $39 value)!! All you have to do is give us your first-born child. Just kidding! We just want you to spread the love through social media. Check out the Rafflecopter below to learn how to enter to win.